Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Obama 2012

"Dear Mr. Arnaldo DeSouteiro:

You are currently registered and living in California's 30th Congressional District.

One year ago today was the official launch of the Obama 2012 campaign.

On April 4th, 2011, President Obama sent you a message, copied below, to kick this thing off, and about five staffers and I came to work in an empty office in Chicago with nothing but a desire to build this campaign the right way, with you at the heart of it.

Today, I've got some news that I wanted you to hear first: More grassroots supporters pitched in during the first fundraising quarter of 2012 than in any before.

We're still crunching the numbers before our official report to the FEC later this month, but as of Saturday at midnight, more than 1.8 million people had stepped up to own a piece of this campaign.

Saturday in particular was the single biggest day of grassroots support yet -- more than 118,000 contributions in 24 hours alone leading up to the deadline. That's more than any single day in the history of this campaign.

At the very same time, we were out registering thousands of new voters, recruiting volunteers in every state, and reaching out to independent voters to talk about the President's accomplishments.

Thank you. Not just for your support this quarter -- thank you for committing to what this campaign stands for, like the idea that we ought to rebuild an economy where hard work pays, responsibility is rewarded and everyone plays by the same rules.

Thank you for standing behind the President as he brings the war in Afghanistan to a responsible end. Thank you for supporting an energy policy for the 21st Century to boost our economy and save our planet, and for committing to protect women's health from those who would turn back the clock.

We've put something together to remind all of us about the spirit of how we got here. Check it out and make a commitment to volunteer and help win this thing in November.

Today's an important day in this race for another reason: Mitt Romney won three more primaries last night, and an increasing number of folks in the Republican Party establishment are calling for the GOP nominating process to come to an end. (No surprise there: It's been a disaster for their party and may well be producing a candidate that will be the most unpopular nominee in presidential campaign history.)

A number of states still haven't voted, and the race on their side won't be over officially for several weeks or even months. But the reality is that we're very close to the start of what's effectively a general election.

That means we've all got to refocus the way we've been thinking about this race right now -- and dig in and work even harder to help re-elect Barack Obama.

Every phone call you make, every conversation you have, every dollar you give, translates into an organization that will get voters to the polls on November 6th, 2012. So if you've been waiting to step up your support, now's the time to jump in.

We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build.

So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today.

We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. It never does. But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we've made -- and make more -- we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest.

As we take this step, I'd like to share a video that features some folks like you who are helping to lead the way on this journey. Please take a moment to watch.

In the coming days, supporters like you will begin forging a new organization that we'll build together in cities and towns across the country. And I'll need you to help shape our plan as we create a campaign that's farther reaching, more focused, and more innovative than anything we've built before.

We'll start by doing something unprecedented: coordinating millions of one-on-one conversations between supporters across every single state, reconnecting old friends, inspiring new ones to join the cause, and readying ourselves for next year's fight.

This will be my final campaign, at least as a candidate. But the cause of making a lasting difference for our families, our communities, and our country has never been about one person. And it will succeed only if we work together.

There will be much more to come as the race unfolds. Today, simply let us know you're in to help us begin, and then spread the word: